Dragon Riders
by DarkDisturbedOne
Summary: New Prologue and a section between the time periods...enjoy and thanx for the support. Please pass this on.
1. Prologue: Jariah

Prologue

Five Years Earlier

The castle walls stood high and seemed impenetrable. Three archers stood at the top. They were petty soldiers, pawns, used and battered for a "better cause". The sun beat down on them unmercifully, yet they stood watch and didn't complain. Vorak stood and watched these trained soldiers from afar. They were disciplined, but he could best them in combat.

This castle belonged to the great Warlord, Jariah. He was talented in the skills he possessed and was well known for showing no mercy in a battle. Rumors had it that he had killed thousands in the Great War of Herikesh. Vorak had heard stories of that war. It was an ungrateful one. Everyone he knew had died or changed in that war. This was to settle things.

He knew what had to be done. He had gone over the plans and blueprints for the castle and its defenses. He knew how to get to Jariah…and kill him. His only problem was reaching into the 'other' realm and acquiring the weapon when the time came.

Vorak left his perch and jumped to the bottom of the tree. He stood at a very tall six foot, two inches, and he had a powerful physique. Some told him he could take out an entire army with only a battalion of twelve to back him. He wore no armor this time. Stealth was an important factor here.

"Now, to dispatch those archers." He said. "The only problem is, when I do, more will come and the defenses will tighten." He pondered this a moment then, "Oh well, I'll have to be fast."

He ran silently towards the castle wall, pulled out his bow, knocked an arrow and let it loose. It hit the sentry above him and he fell off the wall toward Vorak. Next, Vorak prepped his grapple hook, spun it to get some momentum then let it loose. The three pronged grapple hooked and the chain rattled and Vorak scorned himself. Not wasting any time, he scaled the wall and got to the inner of the base.

The inner wall was elegant with crystal floors and white and granite marbled walls. Vorak took no time in checking the magnificence of the structure. Instead, he hid behind the nearest stack of barrels. Hoping that none of the guards had heard him break his entrance, he, again, steadied his bow with an arrow in place.

A deep breath rushed through his lungs and he leaned from the side of the barrels to survey his targets. One at the wall where he had come up, one on the ground floor below him, and four in other stations around the wall. His arm tensed as he pulled back the bowstring, took aim at the guard on the floor, and released. A direct hit to the center of the chest and the guard was down.

The five remaining guards had not heard the dying gasp of their comrade. They stood as they were. Another arrow flew into the back of the guard across from Vorak, and another to the one by his entrance.

"Three more." He said under his breath. "Then, who knows how many are inside…" his voice trailed as he readied another arrow.

------------------------------

The guard stood at the inner doorway on the ground level. He stepped to adjust his footing and then regain his stance. From the view through the little window, he could see the rain start to fall. A sudden crash of thunder sounded and the flash of lightening after blinded him. When he could see again…Vorak stood in front of him. He raised his sword to attack but was stabbed in the stomach with the arrow in Vorak's hand.

Vorak retracted the arrow and the limp body fell to the floor. Vorak wiped the little blood spot off the arrow and replaced it in his quiver then stepped over the dispatched guard.

A voice broke in his head and spoke in the tongue of the elves. "You did well."It was his friend, Terra. She spoke in the Elven tongue again. "You are a skillful bowman. Where did you learn that?"

"That, _Arwenamin_, I learned from the best." He smirked. "How have you been?"

"I've been better but I can't complain now."

"And why is that?" he asked growing curious.

"Oh…No reason. Just, be careful.You are a mighty warrior, but still, don't look for trouble, it will come to you.

"It's too late for that. That's the whole reason I'm here. I live for trouble." He retaliated.

With that, she went silent and left him to his own. Vorak turned to the inner door that the guard was watching.

------------------------------

Terra turned and left her quarters. She was an elegant Elven woman, tall but not towering. Her hair was a sleek blonde-white. She had strong facial features and a prominent jaw, though not obnoxiously prominent. She was the beauty of her race

"Good day." an Elven peasant remarked as she passed.

"Aye." Another complimented and saluted with his fist at his chest bringing his fist to his chin and bowing his head.

All the life in the place was buzzing and making their way to the outer ridge for a speech by the queen. When she got to the ridge of Southwall, or _Harnram_ by her peoples language, she took her place at the podium.

"Hail. It has been long, my friends." She started. "How long? At last! Take this, for this is your life. Take this as your life and stand before your enemies. We shall not falter in this war. We shall RISE! We will take back what is ours. We shall take back our freedom and our land, and, above all, we shall take back our pride"

As she spoke, the crowd listened and cheered.

Terra's voice quieted and became more sincere. "Friends, ancient ones, loyal ones mighty ones, pure ones, short ones, tall ones, valiant ones, visionaries, wise ones, people of the Elven realm of Harnram. We as a nation, guild differences, personal differences, and social differences aside, must come together as one and become stronger. I, as your queen, shall stand at your side, even in battle."

One of the citizens raised his hands, saluted, and cried, "I stand by your side to the death."

Terra smiled and responded, "Aye. The next two moons are for preparations and travel, but tonight, We Feast! Sweet water and light laughter until next we meet. For when we meet next, we march for our pride."


	2. Five Years of Pain and Suffering

Five Years of Pain and Sadness.

Five years passed as the Elven war of freedom raged. Vorak killed Jariah after being tempted into being trained after his assassination attempt. As a deceitful apprentice, he was banished from the region of Jariah's conquests. Terra and her nation defeated the warlord, Noc – though not killing him – and took back their land. Terra resigned her reign of Queen and Vorak took her to the palace of the emperor, Natofil where they received training in magic, weaponry combat, and the history of the Dark Lands, their home and the land in which all lived.


	3. The Forming of a Rebellion

Dragon Rider Vorak

Chapter 1

The Forming of a Rebellion

"Wake up, let's go."

"Already?"

"It's been two weeks, what do you mean 'already'?"

"I didn't expect a fortnight to go by so fast."

"Shut up and let's go, NOW!"

"The cave's cold."

"Be quiet. Don't wake up the humans."

The two wolves slinked through the large cavernous-like home of Wolf Clan towards the wall nearest the door. As they walked, they stepped over the hunched, sleeping, bodies. The two were the wolves Grimel and Sirus.

Grimel had a dark grey, almost black, coat of fur and stood tall and proud, for a wolf. He was distasteful about almost everything. But, there were some things he did like. Those things, were not to be discussed.

Sirus, on the other hand, had a more laid-back personality. His coat was a lighter shade of grey. The one thing he hated, was Grimel's attitude.

As they walked through the lair, the sleeping bodies tossed and turned. This made it harder to maneuver through the place. They made it to the door of the cavern, when another of the wolves started after them. When the three were out side, the follower addressed Grimel.

"What are **_you_** doing?" he asked suspiciously.

His question was ignored.

He tried again.

As Grimel turned to meet the face of his questioner, he realized _who_ was questioning him. It was a wolf by the name of Gion.

Gion and Grimel **_were _**really good friends and went way back. But recently, Grimel had begun to question his _friend's_...loyalty. Inlight of some recent happenings, Gion had had some..."betrayitive"... opinions.

Grimel turned back and ignored Gion. As they continued walking, Sirus mentioned something to Grimel. Gion was to far back to hear what it was and got even more suspicious.

They continued to walk through the night. It was about dawn when Sirus and Grimel's discussion started up again. This time, it raged.

"Why are you ignoring him?" Sirus questioned.

"Why do you care?" Grimel questioned back.

" I thought you were friends."

"Then you thought wrong."

"How did _I_ think wrong? I see you two together a lot."

"You used to. He's not Gion any more. Can we not talk about this?"

"No! We are going to talk about this. you don't just stop being friends."

"No? I beg to differ."

"It's not something that just happens. I don't believe that."

"Well, start believing, because it happens."

Gion could hear a few things that were being said, but not all of it. He started to wonder and edged closer.

"Why?" Sirus continued slightly frustrated.

"Things do happen _'out of the blue',_" Grimel had ignored the fact that Gion was slowly creeping closer, "besides, what business is it of yours?"

"I just thought you might want to know, he's right behind you."

"I know," Grimel projected his voice louder this time and said, "and if he doesn't quit eavesdropping, he's gonna have hell to pay."

"I haven't heard much." Gion interjected quite quickly.

"I don't care _how much_ you've heard, it's _what_ you've heard." Grimel replied.

After a long silence, Sirus asked Grimel, "Where are we going?"

"To join the rest." was Grimel's response

§ § §

All faded as Vorak woke in an agonizing suprise. He sat up in his bed and realized he was still in the palace. The hand that grasped the bedpost burned with a tingling sensation. In the background, the sound of practice sticks echoed through the halls as knights trained.

He lifted himself from his bed, placed both feet on the floor, and stood up. As he made his way to the door, he heard the sound of screaming echoing in his head. He stopped in his place and fell to his knees. The screaming seemed to get louder. His ears panged. He placed his now throbbing hand on his head. As the sound increased, he let out an agonizing scream.

Foot steps echoed through the halls with increased speed. His door slowly creaked open. His companion, Terra, walked into his bedroom, exhausted and out of breath. She saw him on the floor and reached down to help him. He pushed her hand away and pushed himself up to his feet.

"What happened?" she questioned.

"It was nothing." Vorak responded.

"You were screaming, something happened."

The sound of the training knights echoed in the silence.

"It was nothing."

"Vorak, please tell me."

"I had that dream again. It was nothing."

Silence reigned once more. Vorak turned to the table caddy-corner to his bed and picked up his bag and practice stick.

"Let's go." He looked at Terra and started out the door. She followed close behind closing the door behind her.

As they walked through the hall, Vorak had his mind on the pain in his arm. This had not happened before. He had had the dream before, but not the pain. _Why is this happening? _He thought to himself about things that could have happened, but nothing came up. _What could have caused this? _He continued to think.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Terra asked after another long silence.

"I'm fine." he replied, slightly annoyed. Vorak's thoughts turned away from his arm and to Terra. He knew that she cared, but he thought she was worrying too much. He tried to ignore the pain in his throbbing arm. It was extremely hard to do, but he managed to ignore most of it. They continued walking to the arena.

When they got to the training arena, Danté and some kid were in the ring. Something wasn't right. They weren't using practice sticks, they were actually fighting.

Vorak stood at the door with a look of amazement on his face. This had never happened before. Who was that anyway? Why was this happening?

The kid lunged at Danté. Danté raised his sword to block but was caught off guard. The kid struck Danté with the broad side of his sword. A very bad decision on his part.

§ § §

Danté was siting at the other side of the arena, just relaxing after some hard training. He had gone through a very rigorous day. _Geez,_ he thought to him self, _What a rough day. I'm glad it's almost over. A nice cold dunk in the lake sounds tremendously refreshing._ Suddenly, from across the room, the door burst open and threw three of the people closest to it to the floor. A hunched, hooded, half-demon kid walked through the open door. Immediately he drew his blade and lunged at Danté. Danté blocked his blow with ease, stood up, knocked him on his ass, grabbed the turf of his shirt, and threw him into the ring. He then "pounced" after the kid and into the ring. Danté twisted his blade and sheathed it. A glare fell over his eyes.

"Who are you?"

No answer came from the kid, just a grunt.

"Fine have it your way then," Danté exclaimed and pulled both of his gloves off his hands and threw them on the ground. Large claws protruded from his fingers and glinted in the sun. He threw himself at the kid with his right arm ready to strike.

The kid side-stepped and dogged Danté's attack, raised his sword, and took a blow from the side. Danté's claws dug deep into the kid's side. He let out an agonizing, painful scream. Danté stepped back. The kid raged in fury, raised his sword again, and swung it at Danté. Danté raised his sword to block the blow, and he took a blow to the side. The kid had hit him with the broad side of his sword. Terra and Vorak stood at the door in amazement. Danté reared his fist back and swung. The impact broke the kids nose and threw him back. On his way back, the kids sword nicked Danté in the face. Danté, being the half-vampire he is, sealed the cut instantaneously and it scarred over. He drew his sword and set the tip on the kids neck.

"Who are you?" Danté questioned angrily.

No response came from the kid. The tip of the sword slowly dug its self into the kids neck.

"Gid." the kid answered, "my name is Gid."

A trickle of blood rolled down his neck and landed on the floor. Danté sheathed his blade and started walking towards the hallway. When he was halfway down the corridor, a loud _Fwup!_ was heard. Vorak turned, and Danté was gone.

Gid lay stunned, on the floor. Feeling another drop of blood roll down his neck, he shook himself out of a trance and rose to his feet. He stared down the corridor where Danté had gone. Feeling a sudden burst of energy, he bolted out the door and he, also, was gone.

"What the hell, just happened?" Vorak searched the eyes of his counterparts. No one answered.

Standing stunned at the doorway, Terra felt her heart rate slow back to normal. She too, was looking around wandering what happened. She fell to her knees and started to shake. As Vorak looked down at her, he realized something was so terribly wrong.

"We need to see the Emperor, immediately."

Terra looked up at Vorak than added, "He's in his chamber."

§§§

"What do you suggest we do, my liege?" Vorak asked as the Emperor started to pace the floor.

"If I am right, then that was a spy of Wolf sent to kill Danté. Have you been told about the story of The Great Warrior, Wolf?" The Emperor asked, then stopped and looked at Vorak.

"No, I have not heard of this so called, Wolf."

"I shall tell you then."

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Author's note: Yeah, well, that's all for today but there should be a lot more by the end of the week.

Also, don't flame this.

(Authors friend: And look for the Havenrest series by SunRa)


	4. The Great and Terrible Warrior

Chapter 2

The Great and Terrible Warrior

It was blue light. The sun was on the rise and one hundred thousand of the finest soldiers of the Wolf Clan stood outside Noc's palace. A general in blue armor rode the most gallant of the wolves. This wolf was by the name of Thereon. He stood twelve foot tall at the top of his head. The general rode on Thereon's back and reassured his soldiers that they would win.

As the sun came up, every one saw that the main gates to Noc's great palace were opening. Past the gates was an army of only one thousand. At the head of the thousand, was Noc. The gates reached a full open point and all went silent. Suddenly, as if an earthquake had shook the very ground the Wolf Clan was standing upon, The forces of Noc roared their battle cry.

At three miles away, Grimel, Gion, and Sirus could hear the cry of war and picked up their pace.

"So, what exactly was the army made up of?" Sirus asked Grimel.

"One thousand, or so I was told."

"This is going to be easy then?"

"Have you not heard of the Battle of the Herikesh?"

"Apparently not."

"Noc used only one hundred men and wiped out almost three hundred thousand common malitia men in the land of Herikesh. Only one child survived."

"Okaaaay. So this isn't going to be easy."

"Not by the slightest."

As the war cry silenced, the warriors charged into battle with swords drawn and ready for a mass slaughter. The feet of hundreds pounding the rough terrain. It was all to start the shortest war in all of history. The eight-foot soldiers had blades of idda ore. Idda is the strongest of materials in the Land of Dragons, and when infused with steel or iron, is practically indestructible.

The twin bladed swords glinted in the first light of the sun and glowed red. The Wolf Clan stood ground and braced for the attack. Just as the two armies clashed, the three wolves rose to the top of a hill overlooking the massive onslaught.

The Wolf Clan immediately started taking casualities. From their vantage point on the hill, Grimel, Sirus, and Gion could see everything, including the great soldier Noc. He was walking around in the middle of the battle field with sword sheathed. Just walking around casually.

Suddenly, a Wolf Clan soldier made a strike directly for Noc's throat. Out of nowhere, a Soldier of Noc grabbed the arms of the Wolf soldier, pulled him off the ground, gripped his legs tightly, and stretched him until the skin started to rip and tear. When the skin was weak enough, he pulled the Wolf soldier in half, ripping the spinal cord from connection three vertebra down from the skull. Noc's soldier laughed at his accomplishment and threw the body to the ground. The now bloodied corpse of the assassin soldier lay lifeless on the battle field. Noc, had not a drop of blood on him. He was untouchable.

Thereon watched as his best stealth soldier was ripped in half. He didn't know what to do now. All he could do was watch.

Sirus, dumbstruck by the sight of these twelve foot monstrosities, just stood and stared over the battle field, watching the carnage. He looked toward Grimel who simply nodded. Gion was already on his way to the bottom of the hill. He was moving pretty slow and looked frightened.

"What is he doing?" Sirus questioned as he looked at Grimel, puzzled.

"Leaving us behind. He is a traitor." Grimel responded.

The two contemplated on weither to go down into the chaos or await capture on the hill top. Their will, and the thought of the torture they would go through if captured, led them down the slope and into the inferno of a battle.

On the other side of the valley, Thereon readied his sword as Noc grew closer. The fear in his heart leaped to his throat as he swallowed what could have been his last bit of courage. Yet still, he waited. And still, he knew what he had to do. He must defeat the 'Immortal Warrior'.

As Noc stepped and started to speak to Thereon, the rider in blue froze, as if paralyzed by a swift blow to the kidney.

"Hello, brother." the words that flowed from his lips seemed so casual, yet so threatening.

All seemed to screech to a sudden halt as the words entered Thereon's ear. '_Brother_,' he thought to himself, baffled by the idea that this monster could be his brother.

"I have no brother. You must be mistaken." Thereon stated in the manner of a helpless child. "Could you be, my brother?"

The words still lingered in his thoughts as his body took on a will of its own, raising his sword. As the sword fell through the air striking against the steel of its opponents, Noc spoke again.

"Mother never told you? Figures, seeing as how she is the one who exiled me. You always were her special little prince." The words were cold and fierce. With that Thereon became furious.

"You can't be my brother. I have no brother." And with those words, Thereon fell to the corruption of the darkness that surrounded his mind.

He did not care if this monster was his brother or not, he just wanted to kill him. Thereon lifted his sword high into the air and swung it down to the right, hoping to cut the throat of his adversary. But, at the same time, Noc struck Thereon in the center of the chest, throwing him to the ground, inches from the inevietable death.

"You always were weak." Noc said as if regreting killing him. and walked away.

Thereon lie there, unable to do anything but accept death, and drew his last breath.

§§§

"And with that, Noc defeated the Wolf Clan and is now known as, the Immortal Warrior, Wolf." the Emperor finished.

"So we live in fear of this one man, not knowing weither we live another day?" Vorak was not pleased with the point that recieved from this story.

"Yes and No. There is a prophecy that tells, that a sole warrior who posses the sword of souls, will overthrow Wolf, and become Lord of the Lands."

"So we believe in the prophecy to protect us?" Terra questioned.

"Yes, but no one knows when this warrior will find the sword of souls."

The three sat in silence, waiting for the proper time to address the prophecy. Vorak spoke.

"So where do we find this warrior?" he questioned.

"Only two people know. Linn and Wolf himself. Wolf fears the prophecy coming true and has already prepared for war. You must go into the mountians and warn Linn. Bring her back here and I shall speak with her."

And with that, Terra and Vorak left the Emperors quarters to pack for the trip. And a long trip it would be.


End file.
